Madelaine inched open her eyes and searched out her friend. Abby sat with her ankles and wrists bound directly across from Madelaine not more than five strides away. “Are you unharmed?”
Abby nodded. “My wrists and ankles ache,of course.”
Madelaine shifted her attention back to Grey and blinked at the unexpected sight of Lord Gravenhurst as well. “You move with disconcerting silence,” she snapped at Lord Gravenhurst.
His teeth flashed with a gleaming smile. “It’s a gift. I’m going to comb the woods one more time. You’ll be all right here until I get back?” he said to Grey.
Without looking at Lord Gravenhurst, Grey nodded and waved him away. “Go. I won’t be foolish again.”
Lord Gravenhurst rose and disappeared into the woods before she addressed Grey. “Why have you bound Abby and me?”
He rocked off his haunches and loomed in front of her. “Because, my sweet, you tried to escape me while your friend tried to shoot me.”
Madelaine snapped her gaze to Abby, but Grey jerked her head back to him. “Not that friend, my consummate little actress.” His hands had come to her arms as he crouched in front of her.
She licked her dry, cracked lips. What Grey said made no sense. “I don’t know that man. He was a stranger to me.”
Grey reached into his coat and withdrew a paper. “And I suppose you don’t know what this is either?”
Her heart sank with recognition. “It’s not as it seems.”
“It never is, in my experience.” The loathing and pain in his voice sliced at her. “You lied to me. You said this was a goodbye letter from your father, yet this is the king’s paper. The very one your father was accused of stealing. So what’s not as it seems? Are you not a liar or is your father not a thief? Not a traitor? Or are you saying you’re not a traitor? A liar? An expert deceiver?”
She swallowed convulsively. She was a liar and now a traitor. “I lied to save my father. He stole that paper to protect England.” The words sounded foolish, but she pushed on. “The king’s going mad and Father wanted to get the paper to the prince, so he may have proof of the king’s unstable mind. Then the prince will be able to rule in the king’s stead.”
“Your father’s the mad one.” Grey shoved the paper back into his coat.
“Grey.” Desperation made her voice come out high and brittle. “You promised to help me.”
He jerked away from her and stood. “That was before your friend tried to kill me. I’d be stupid to deny your part now. You’re helping your father and whoever he’s working with try to kill the king’s men.”
Her mouth dropped open at his accusation. “I vow I’m not.”
“Don’t lie to me anymore, Madelaine.” His tone was savage and unrelenting as the hardest steel.
Anger flared in her chest. “You seem to know an awful lot for a mere equerry.” Without replying, he twisted and stomped into the woods. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks. She was all the things he accused her of, but what was he? Who was he? He was no mere equerry with all he knew. Doubt and betrayal gnawed at her. Had he used her simply to try to prove her father’s guilt? If so, it had worked beautifully.
“Madelaine?”
She shifted to face Abby.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
Not about to shout all her secrets, Madelaine scooted on her bottom across the ground. Once she was beside Abby, she took a deep breath. “My father was a spy for the king.”
Abby responded with a sharp intake of breath, followed by, “And?”
“And he has betrayed the king. Father thinks it’s for the good of the kingdom, but I don’t know.” She hung her head low. “I just don’t know,” she whispered. “Now I’m a traitor too. And Lord Grey thinks I’m helping Father and some other accomplice kill the king’s men.”
Abby nudged Madelaine’s shoulder with her own until Madelaine reluctantly looked up. “Did you know that man on the trail?” Abby asked, barely above a whisper.
“No.” Madelaine shook her head. “I swear I didn’t. And Father may be a traitor, but he’s no killer.”
“I know,” Abby soothed. “What are we going to do now?”
Madelaine shook her head but didn’t answer. Footsteps crunched through the woods toward them. Grey and Lord Gravenhurst appeared side by side. Grey bent down in front of her. “We will untie you to eat, drink and have a moment of privacy, but then you’ll be bound again so we can sleep. Understand?”
She nodded. She wasn’t about to argue and cause him to change his mind. He yanked her ropes off her wrists and ankles and pointed to a log. “Sit there. And don’t say a word.” She sniffed at his command but held her silence.
